View, browse and sort the ever-growing list of sessions by day, pass type, topic, and format. With this Session Viewer, you can view GDC 2023 session details and speakers, and share your favorites via social media. You will be able to build your schedule and access it during the show via export or Mobile App, once live. Sessions do fill up and seating is first come, first serve, so arrive early to sessions that you would like to attend.
Alexandra Takei (Host, Naavik Gaming Podcast, Stanford MBA)
Tim Morten (CEO and Co-Founder, Frost Giant Studios, Inc.)
Mark Otero (CEO & Founder, Azra Games)
Ethan Levy (Host, Deconstructor of Fun, Founder in Stealth)
Location: Room 2016, West Hall
Date: Tuesday, March 21
Time: 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Pass Type: All Access Pass, Summits Pass
Topic: Free-to-Play
Format: Panel
Vault Recording: Video
Audience Level: Intermediate
Although BITCOIN shook the crypto currency world in the early 2000 teens, blockchain technology, the underlying tech that enabled the public ledger tracking heralded by many as the future of digital transactions, only recently made its way to the gaming limelight over the past three years. Throughout the course of 2021, blockchain gaming deals in the venture space skyrocketed from 0 in Q4 2020 to 83, 406, 22, and 85 in Q1-Q4 2021 respectively. Capital invested in the space is nearly +$2B at this point.
And then winter came. Axie Infinity’s inflationary economy fell to ruins, bridges were hacked, algorithmic stable coins like Luna and Terra death spiraled, the collapse of FTX cast a dark shadow on the crypto and blockchain space, and the Super Bowl Limit Break ad left some enthusiasts feeling a bit shafted. But amidst winter, the building continues. There are Web3 Gaming entrepreneurs who still believe in the ethos of on-chain digital asset ownership as a core vector of value for a new generation of gamers. Is it true? Will Web3 be gaming’s new “Free to Play?” What do these entrepreneurs see that others don’t?
Join us for a passionate debate on the future of web3 games and their role in redefining the business model of video games in the final session of the Free-to-Play Summit at GDC.
The panel is stacked with game industry veterans turned web3 entrepreneurial CEOs: Ethan Levy (founder/CEO of , Host at Deconstructor of Fun), Tim Morten (founder/CEO of Frostgiant, ex-Blizzard), and, Mark Otero (founder/CEO of Azra Games, ex-EA). Our moderator is Alexandra Takei, ex-Blizzard, ex-System Era Softworks, and ex-BITKRAFT Ventures, current Stanford MBA, and host of the Naavik Gaming Podcast.
How will NFTs and tokenized economies augment or replace free-to-play and other models in gaming? Get below the surface in understanding what drove the mania with blockchain gaming and hear the experts building major projects now debate if/when/why/how the rubber will hit the road.
First, you have strong views on whether blockchain does or does not belong in games and are ready to hear titans of the industry duke it out!
Second, you’re a builder in web3. You’re planning features for a pre-production project, struggling with some of the janky backend tools in web3 marketing, or looking for a new challenge in gaming. This will give you a good foundation for what blockchain technology can bring to games, the principles behind it, and the implementation struggles currently founders are battling.